Running From Nothing
by steponabutterfly
Summary: "I had to keep running. Or it would have caught up. It wants me and I don't know why." COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**I had an idea but no clue where it will go, so if you have any suggestions, _please_ review.**

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I was running. The boy was chasing me. I don't know why. I don't know who he is. But I have to get away. From him. From the thing. What was that thing…?

The whole building was metallic and future like. I hated how my feet pounded on the floor as my exhausted steps got heavier. My chest heaved for more air but I couldn't stop running.

I turned onto a corridor. A long corridor. There was a door. An open door. To a big open room.

And then I decided that was my destination.

"Come on, slow down!" The boy behind me shouted, panting and tired, but I couldn't slow down nor stop. That thing was coming to get me and if I stopped running he'd get me.

I heard another voice; further away, calling to the boy behind me. Telling him to slow down.

I pushed myself, eyes set on my final destination. I stopped when I got in the room.

No windows. No other doors. Nothing. Just metal floors, metal walls and a cold draft.

Then someone crashed into me; the first boy. He had dark skin, brown eyes and was currently lying on top of me from where he'd crashed.

The other boy ran in and looked at me and the boy on top of me with confused eyes.

Then the door slammed shut. Of it's own accord. Then some weak green lights flickered on. All 3 of us were breathing heavily. The first boy had got off me.

"What are we going to do?" He asked the second boy. The second boy tried to open the door buy it just rattled on it's hinges.

"I don't know." The second boy admitted. He had light skin, brown eyes and brown hair that swished over his eyes.

I picked myself up and dusted myself off. The second boy noticed me and rushed over.

"Are you okay?" I nodded. "My name's Luke and that's Clyde. Why wouldn't you stop running?" Luke inquired.

"Because it would have got me." I whispered.

"What?" Clyde asked.

I felt someone's fingers brush against my shoulder and turned suddenly.

"That." I whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

I was pacing up and down on the other side of the huge room, rubbing my hands on my arms due to the decreasing temperature.

Clyde and Luke had been banging on the door, begging for someone to find us, saying some 'Sarah Jane' and 'Rani' would find them but I didn't believe them. I knew I was dead the second I ran into this building.

My phone signal was dead, I'm being stalked and/or haunted by this creepy guy that is convinced he's alien (like I believe him) and I'm stuck in a room with 2 guys that I don't know.

What fun on your summer holiday eh?

"So what're we fighting?" Clyde asked, I was unsure if he was addressing me but I looked up anyway. They were both looking at me expectantly.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Some ghost like dude that thinks he's an alien. You seemed decidedly calm about all this, fancy telling me what's going on?" I asked.

"We can't. Yet." Luke answered. He'd seemed shy at school though his confidence proved here; he wasn't freaking out for a start. "How long has this 'ghost' been haunting you?"

He'd already told me about not believing in ghosts but I couldn't think of any other way of explaining it.

"It started with feelings of someone brushing against my shoulder when no one was there or my hair blowing in a wind that didn't exist. Then I had these nightmares, I'd wake up screaming and crying. Then I heard these voices. I couldn't tell anyone; they'd all think I was insane. Then this, translucent figure appeared. I don't know who he is but he's bent on making my life misery." I explained.

"So, quite a while then?" Clyde asked. I nodded. He wasn't showing the intelligence Luke was but he proved to make the situation _slightly_ less scary. Only slightly.

"We need to talk to this ghost like being. Do you know how to summon him?" Luke asked me.

Summon? "You think I'd _want_ to bring this thing to me? I've never wanted to 'summon' it, whatever it is." I retorted.

"I love it when you think you can escape me." I heard the chilling voice from behind me and the cold hand rest on my arm, pulling across my shoulders and leaving an icy chill the shudder down my spine.

"It must be you wanting to keep him, it, away that draws it in." Clyde concluded. I thought it would be Luke making the conclusions. I couldn't speak, agree or argue; I was frozen in fear. My jaw began involuntarily chattering.

"I come and go as I please; though taunting my toy is great fun." He often referred to me as 'his toy' and I often felt like that's all I was; just a girl with strings and he was the puppeteer.

"Your toy? She's a human being like the rest of us! She's isn't your toy." Luke argued for me, since when has he been so brave? Or was it just stupidity?

"But I'm not a human being. Not anymore." He answered with a smirk. "And neither are you Luke,"

"How do you know his name?" Clyde asked.

"He can see everything inside your head. Everything you've ever thought, every memory, every last piece of information you know." I whispered, feeling the need to explain.

"Shouldn't you be more worried that he isn't quite human?" He put his cold transparent face centimetres from my own and pointed an accusing finger at Luke.

"He's more human than you." I answered defiantly. I don't know where the sudden burst of courage came from but I regretted it instantly. He threw me against the wall behind me and I only just clung on to consciousness. I could feel a bruise forming on the back of my head and my back would need some decent stretching before I could move it particularly quickly. I heard footsteps and felt a warm pair of hands on my shoulder and the back of my head, feeling the tender spot.

"I'll be back later." The ghost guy sighed and left, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Luke continued feeling the back of my head and I looked up at him. "What do you know about head injuries?" I asked.

"More than you'd think." He muttered, not letting his concentration deviate.

"Is she okay?" Clyde asked, keeping his eyes trained on Luke's hand rather than me; like I wasn't there.

"It's just a bruise I think. No damage." Luke pulled his hand away from my head and smiled at me. I smiled weakly back at him.

"How do we get out of here?" I asked quietly, my head still spinning a little.

"I don't know." Luke rushed. "Is there anything cold in here? We should really get some ice on your head." He was avoiding telling me there's no way out. Great.

"The whole room's freezing if that's enough cold for you. I _doubt_ they provided frozen peas for wounded heads." Clyde added sarcastically.

"It doesn't have to be peas, just anything." Luke explained, somehow not understanding that no frozen peas meant no ice pack.

"What did he mean you weren't quite human?" I asked. Luke sighed, perhaps surprised I'd remembered the ghosts words.

"He didn't say that, your memory must have been distorted when you hit your head." Luke lied surprisingly smoothly but it didn't fool me. My memory is not distorted. I didn't follow it up; he'd just argue and not tell me.

"How do we get out of here then?" I asked, standing up and bending backwards, hearing a series of clicks as the bones fell back into place. I then proceeded to bend forward and touch my toes, stretching out the muscles.

"Ooh, nice view." Clyde cooed. I stood up instantly, pulling down my denim skirt so it rested comfortably on my thighs.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked. Clyde smirked.

"I was only kidding! I couldn't see anything." He laughed.

I rolled my eyes and turned to Luke. "So? How do we get out?" I asked again.

"I don't know. I mean, I don't know _yet_." He answered.

**I know, it's been 8 months since I uploaded the snippet of a first chapter, but when I asked for ideas, I was presented with next to nothing. This is me delaying how the hell they come up with a solution. I now have only my One Direction fic and my Merlin fic to finish, plus it's in debate whether I'll give up on Meeting Luke Smith, my other Sarah Jane Adventures fic but it's unsurprisingly bad. I hope to be writing this fic simultaneously to Last Song, my One Direction fic but I'm about to go start the final chapter to that then I'll focus solely on this. More ideas would be very much appreciated! And reviews in general; I mean FIVE for the first chapter? Shucks guys I was really honoured. Love you all! xo**


	3. Chapter 3

3rd Person

It'd been hours since the ghost had presented itself. Luke and Clyde were sitting on one side of the room, the girl (who till hadn't introduced herself) was sitting on the other side.

"She's so pretty." Luke mused.

"Beautiful." Clyde sighed in agreement. "Dude, she's totally mine."

"How?"

"I saw her first, that means I get first dibs."

"Surely it doesn't matter?"

"No, but in guy law it means you have to let me make the first move."

"But this law doesn't actually exist."

"It's social law."

"There's no punishment if this 'law' is broken so I could make a move and nothing would happen."

"Surely respect for your best mate would-"

"How do you know she's not got a boyfriend?"

"I don't but you've got to let me make the move and find out!"

"I don't even care anyway." Luke sighed.

"Stop talking about me." The girl shouted across the room.

"You could hear us?" Luke questioned.

"Yes. There's not exactly much else to listen to is there?" She silenced them both.

"What's your name anyway?" Clyde asked.

"Stephanie." She answered, hugging her knee's closer.

"So, if you heard everything we said, you could tell us if you've got a boyfriend?" Clyde presumed.

"I could, but I'm not going to." Stephanie sighed, standing up and beginning to pace.

"Why not?" Clyde pressed.

"Because I don't know you, I just," She hesitated.

"You just what?" Luke asked.

"I need you, to help me get out of this mess."

"You're right, you do need us." Clyde stood, sauntering over to her.

"What's your plan then Clyde?" Stephanie asked.

"That's Luke's job."

"Well then I only need him." She teased, smirking at him.

"Things would just get awkward if it was just you and him. I'm here to break the tension."

"You're just creating it though, aren't you? If you want to ask me out Clyde, don't beat around the bush."

"So you don't have a boyfriend!"

"Never said I didn't. It _could_ be the reason I say no. Or it might not be. How do you know so much about head injuries anyway?" She changed the subject away from her love life, addressing Luke. "Surely you don't have any medical training? We're only in year 12."

"I watch a lot of hospital shows; I find them interesting."

"But you don't actually _have_ the knowledge?"

He shrugged. "I google."

"Has anyone ever told you you're a little bit weird?"

"Repeatedly."

"But you don't know him! You don't know anything about him; maybe he's got 10 times the intelligence you have!" Clyde defended him when Luke failed to do so himself.

"Are you calling me stupid or him clever?" Stephanie asked.

"Both." Clyde was getting angry at how uncooperative she was being.

"Don't start arguing! That's what he wants! He wants us to turn against each other." Luke interrupted.

Stephanie sighed. "Fine, I don't have a boyfriend. I know he's really clever and I know I'm not _that_ clever." She answered all the questions she'd avoided.

"How did you know we are in year 12?" Luke asked.

"I go to the same school as you."

"I've not seen you around." Clyde interrupted; not believing her.

"I don't have any classes with you."

"Surely we'd see you at _some _point?" Clyde questioned.

"Well that shows how observant you are." Stephanie stated sarcastically.

"Yeah but I'm probably the most observant person you'll meet and _I_ haven't seen you." Luke interrupted. Again.

"That's why I chose her. _Someone's_ got to pay attention to you at some point, haven't they Steph." The ghost reappeared. "I know more about her than she does."

"Who are you?" Luke asked. They noticed that Steph had tensed up since the ghost appeared and touched her.

"I'm not a Ghost, for those of you who thought I was." He glared at Steph again.

"An alien then?" Clyde asked.

"Not even that. Just alien technology. Nothing from your time stream. I'd say 'you wouldn't understand', but you, Mr Smith, might."

"So you're human? From the future. Must be using some sort of teleportation, a hologram of some sort." Luke mused.

"What? You sound like we're in a sci-fi movie!" Steph argued, still not believing what she was hearing.

"How else do you explain any of this?" Clyde asked. Stephanie shrugged; she hadn't thought of a sarcastic comeback for that yet.

"You're far more intelligent than I anticipated. I'll have to make this harder." The ghost like being snapped his fingers and disappeared.

"What's he mean harder? Does he think this is a game?" Stephanie asked.

"That must be it. The game must be to discover who he is and get out of here." Luke deciphered.

"Or die trying." Steph shrugged.

"I think we need some positivity from you." Clyde added.

"What's positive about this?" She asked.

"We have Luke, who's got a plan?" Clyde asked hopefully.

"I'm working on it."

"See! That's _progress!_"

"What progress exactly have we made?" Stephanie asked, not seeing Clyde's logic.

"Before Luke didn't have a plan, now he's working on one. We have a remote plan._ That_, my dear Stephanie, is progress." Clyde smirked, throwing his arm round her shoulders. She shook him off and left her arms crossed over her chest.

"It's getting colder." She stated.

"No duh, nimrod!" Clyde rolled his eyes.

"Will you two knock it off? I can't concentrate." Luke whined. Steph and Clyde glared and each other and Steph stuck out her tongue.

"You're so immature." Clyde scolded.

"Says you." Stephanie retorted.

"Shut it Steph!" Clyde found himself getting angry again.

"_What did I say earlier about turning against each other?_" Luke sighed.

"Sorry Luke." Steph apologised.

"Kiss up." Clyde muttered.

"Again with the maturity Clyde…" She mused.

"Do I have to split you two up?" Luke asked.

"No," Clyde answered. "We'll keep quiet."

"Go sit over there and get to know each other." Luke instructed. Clyde and Steph sat down next to each other and began to talk quietly as Luke completed formulating a plan in his head.

**THIS IS SO HARD TO WRITE. -.- But I have a reward system for myself, so hopefully it will get written (yn). Eventually. Idea's or questions I could answer are always appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

Luke spent the next hour pacing, wondering how they could deactivate this man's technology when he was so far in the future, and they were so far in his past.

"You finished formulating that plan yet?" Steph asked. Clyde couldn't help but wonder the same thing. Over the past hour of their chatting, the two had discovered the had much in common, though couldn't decipher why Clyde had never seen her around the school building.

"Not yet." Luke muttered.

"It's freezing and I'm hungry dude, when are we going to get out of here?" Clyde pestered.

"Sarah Jane and Rani haven't shown up so I presume we're undetectable in this room, or he sent clones of us to make them think we're still there. Though I'm sure they'd see through that soon enough." Luke mused, thinking out loud.

"You've been pacing and thinking and concentrating for the past _hour_ and that's all you came up with?" Clyde questioned, thinking they'd be out and home in time for dinner.

"What have you done for the past hour?" Luke asked.

"Not distracted you, so you could come up with a plan!"

"You can't rely on me all the time Clyde!"

"Stop it! Both of you! What was it you said about turning against each other Luke? Clyde we're not going to get out any sooner this way! We have to put our heads together!" Stephanie interrupted.

Luke took a deep breath and Clyde sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry Luke. What've you got so far?"

"Nothing! I can't think of any way to get out of this without building a time machine and in here we don't have to resources!" Luke exclaimed, holding his head in his hands and kicking the wall, a metallic sound echoing around the room.

"What? You mean you _know_ how to build a time machine?" Steph asked.

"He has a supercomputer in his attic that teaches him about extra-terrestrial stuff; he has intergalactic knowledge." Clyde explained while Luke rubbed his toe, sore from his angry outburst.

"Cool." Steph smiled; genuinely impressed.

"I could make something to _jump_ time at least, but it might not be safe."

"We've got to try! Getting to the future may be the only way to defeat this guy." Clyde added.

"Okay, give me your watch." Luke told Clyde, holding out his hand.

"No way! That was a birthday present from my Mum, man!" He argued.

"You can have mine." Steph interrupted, halting the boy's argument before it started and unhooking her watch from her wrist.

"Okay, now I just need a- maybe it's easier just to find it." Luke sighed, turning to rake through some of the rubble they'd been dumped with.

"If you have intergalactic knowledge, we're probably not going to understand a word you say." Steph added.

"Anything we _can_ do Lukey?" Clyde called after him.

"Bring the ghost-"

"He said he wasn't a ghost?" Steph questioned.

"Whatever; bring him back! If he's here I might be able to latch on to where, more specifically _when_ he's from." Luke explained.

"I don't _want_ to bring him back though!" Steph screamed.

"Was that my name I heard?" The ghost like being materialised just behind Steph.

"What _is_ your name?" Clyde asked.

"We don't have names were I'm from. Just numbers."

"Prison?" Steph asked.

"Sounds so cruel when you say it."

"What number are you?" Clyde asked, keeping the prisoner occupied while Luke made the time-jumping device.

"Six hundred and seventy four." He pronounced every syllable.

"What did you get arrested for?" Steph asked, taking a quick look at Luke, feverishly working on the time-jumping machine.

"Aah, well, gotta shoot a few people to get to the top, ain't you?" He shrugged.

"But you obviously didn't get to the top? If you're in jail?" Steph asked.

"You really are getting a bit too clever aren't you?" The prisoner questioned. "They took me to a mental hospital; didn't think I was stable. But with all that medical equipment! There was no limit to what I could build. Hence, why I'm here."

"Now you mention it, you never sounded particularly mentally stable. And to think, I thought it was me that was insane." Steph stated sarcastically.

"Do you want a leg injury to go with that head one?" The prisoner asked darkly.

"Leave her alone, haven't you done enough?" Clyde shouted.

"Not till she's dead and gone."

"What have I ever done to you?"

"Not you, you're great, great, grandson."

"Well that narrows down the time window." Luke muttered.

"He's the one I shot. He's the one that stopped me from showing my inventions to the world. He's the one that teased me and stole my lunch money and _ruined my life_. So if I kill _you_ he'll never be born. And everything will change." He explained.

"He stole your lunch money and that ruined your life?" Steph asked, treading on thin ice. The prisoner grabbed her by the neck and pushed her back against the wall, 10 feet in the air, in one swift movement.

"He stole everything I had. Robbed me of my individuality. And _you_ created that." He hissed.

"Not consciously." She whispered, barely able to get the words out, the colour rapidly draining from her cheeks. He tightened his hand.

"You'll never find me. You'll never stop me. I'm invincible." He bellowed. Though Clyde smirked, having heard those words (or one's to that affect) many a time before. Where were those aliens now?

"Maybe now, but not forever." Stephanie choked, wanting her words to be heard.

"How do you do that? You're at deaths door yet you _still_ argue with me? Despicable, it really is."

"If I'm at deaths door, tell me what you meant when you said you know more about me than I do?"

"You're not quite human Stephanie. You've got a little bit of something else in your genes. I don't know what, but you blend. Not disappear yet, but you blend in with everyone around you _so much so_ that the most observant boy in the world, doesn't even notice your existence. The invisibility should kick in soon. The control takes _years_ though. Quite the inconvenience." The prisoner explained.

Then she disappeared from his sight.

**TOTALLY WROTE THIS ALL IN ONE GO. So proud. With the episode of Doctor Who earlier this evening (Bloody brilliant might I add, I never want to go into Mark Gatiss' imagination) I felt the need to write some more and pretend I'm as brilliant and clever as he. But I'm not. So this'll do. Reviews are great but I'll probably update in a day or two anyways. Depends how hard the next chapter is to write. LOVES YOUS. xo**


	5. Chapter 5

"What?" The Prisoner muttered, moving his hand from the seemingly empty space against the wall and hearing a thump on the floor a moment later, Stephanie flashing back into view as she hit the ground.

The Prisoner smirked. "Aah, the invisibilities kicked in." Stephanie was unconscious. "I'll be back later, if she's not died before that."

As the Prisoner disappeared, Luke pushed a button on the time-jumper that was now attached to his wrist. "Got it; locked onto the time zone he's heading to." Luke exclaimed. Clyde ran over to Steph and Luke soon followed. "She'll be okay I think."

"We've got to take her with us; she can't stay here, she'll freeze."

"Okay, hold her hand on my wrist." Clyde took her cold, lifeless hand and placed it on Luke wrist, leaving his hand on top. Luke pressed a few buttons and Clyde heard a mild vibrating in his ears, a slight squeezing and a bright light and they appeared in a while science lab type room.

"You haven't, you _can't_ be here!" The Prisoner exclaimed, grabbing the closest thing to him that could be used remotely as a weapon. It was a Bunsen burner. It wasn't plugged in. Luke stood to confront the man, and Clyde remained kneeling at Stephanie's side.

Luke saw the machine the Prisoner had set up in the corner for teleporting to 2011 and ran over to it, grabbing a fire extinguisher as he went so he could destroy it. Once the machine was in several hundred smaller pieces scattered across the floor and Luke was satisfied, he stopped.

"That's my life's work!" The Prisoner screeched.

"You shouldn't use it to haunt teenage girls!" Luke argued.

The Prisoner smirked. "She dead yet?"

"No! And she won't. We'll save her."

"I'd like to see you try."

"I don't want to kill you Prisoner 674, but you're making it awfully hard to employ morals." Luke hissed.

"Why should I care? My life's work has been smashed into smithereens, scattered all over the floor! If you don't take my life, I will!"

"That's a _little bit_ drastic isn't it?" Clyde asked.

"How? I was in jail, I'm now in a psychiatric unit and now my life-long project has been broken by a 17 year old boy!" The Prisoner began to cry. He grabbed Luke's watch from his wrist and pressed a few buttons, teleporting out before Luke or Clyde could say anything else.

"How're we going to get back?" Clyde cried.

Luke sighed. "I don't know. While we've got all this equipment, let's try and fix Stephanie up a bit." He suggested, looking at the labels on the jars, bottles and testubes and putting them into a fresh test tube; creating his own concoction.

"Luke do you have a _clue_ what you're doing?" Clyde asked, disbelieving that he could know this much about medicine.

"Vaguely." Was Luke answer as he began to swirl the liquids in the tube, watching them bubble and fizz. He plugged in the Bunsen burner and held the tube over it with a pair of tongues for a few moments. "Not really, but it's all we've got." He said, taking the goggles he'd put on before going near the heat off and taking the creation over to Stephanie who was still unconscious on the floor.

He lifted her head into his lap and placed the rim of the tube on her bottom lip. He held her mouth slightly ajar as he poured the liquid into her mouth, hoping she'd swallow and not choke on the substance that would hopefully revive her.

"C'mon Steph, just swallow it." He whispered. He knew her injuries were not life threatening, critical but not life threatening, but how would they get her to a hospital in a time she understands without the time-jumper that Luke created.

"She's not going to die? Is she? After all this, defeating him and finally getting rid of him, she can't die!" Clyde asked. Luke didn't answer, just watched her, silently praying his concoction of liquids didn't worsen her state.

After a couple of minutes of Clyde's ramblings and Luke's inward pleas, Stephanie began to cough and sat up. Luke stood up and Clyde assumed his position with his hand on her back, talking to her. Luke looked around the room; the smashed up teleportation device didn't have any worthwhile parts left and there wasn't much else left in the room (what else would they let a mad man have? Even 500 years in the future).

"So how're we going to get home?" Stephanie asked, once Clyde had finished informing her of what had happened in the past 15 minutes.

Luke sighed, admitting defeat. "I genuinely don't know."

And then they heard the noise. The noise that meant he was coming. The noise that meant they'd be home soon. The TARDIS.

"I know I was knocked out pretty hard, but I can't be imagining a washing machine noise in my head, can I?" Stephanie asked, pressing against her table.

"You're not." Clyde smiled. When the TARDIS had finished materialising, the Doctor popped his head out the door, holding out his hand.

"Take my hand." He stated. Luke stood and Clyde and Stephanie sat, just watching him momentarily. "Ha, no, I don't do serious rescue's. Just get in." He laughed, ducking back inside the time machine.

"What is that?" Stephanie asked.

"It's a time machine. It's brilliant, you'll love it." Clyde gushed, helping her to her feet and walking inside the TARDIS. Luke followed.

"Oh my god, it's-" Stephanie gasped.

"Bigger on the inside? I know, it's brilliant right?" The Doctor smiled, laughing to himself. Amy and Rory rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"How'd you get the bruises on your neck?" Rory asked Stephanie, approaching her and gently touching her neck with his fingers.

"It's a long story. We'll explain when we get back." Luke asked, indirectly asking the Doctor to take them home.

"Aah yes, hold on Stephanie! It's going to be a bumpy ride. Let's go home." The Doctor cried, pulling the last lever and grabbing onto the TARDIS' switchboard as the shaking commenced and the TARDIS took them home.

**And that's the last chapter! I'm quite proud of this fic. It's quite well written if I do say so myself. I'm quite glad it's this short otherwise I'd get bored. Sorry it took so long to finish and thanks to those of you who subscribed, favourite and reviewed – you're all stars! xx**


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